London Writers' Salon
A deep dive into the habits, mindsets, tools, craft secrets and creative practices bestselling writers use to write novels, plays, poetry, and articles. Hosted by the co-founders of the London Writers' Salon, Matt & Parul.
#199: Katie da Cunha Lewin — How Space Shapes Creative Work, the Myth of the Perfect Writing Room, Building Creative Rituals, and Writing in Imperfect Conditions
Writer Katie da Cunha Lewin on how physical spaces shape creative work, why the perfect writing room is a myth, and the rituals and routines that sustain a writing life.
We discuss
Why the perfect writing space is largely a myth (and why that can set you free). How physical environments quietly shape creative practice and identity. What our fascination with visiting writers' houses reveals. The cultural baggage around “the writer's room,” and who it quietly excludes. The way motherhood compresses time and forces a new kind of creative discipline. A concept of psychological distance between dome...#198: Mastering Young Adult Fiction — Krystal Sutherland (House of Hollow), Joanna Nadin (90+ Books for Kids & Teens), Moira Buffini (Songlight) on Finding Your Writing Home, Knowing Your Audience, Why Stories Matter to the Young | Compilation
YA masters Krystal Sutherland (The Invocations), Joanna Nadin (author of 90+ books for children and adults) and Moira Buffini (Songlight) on hooking teen readers from the very first page, plotting methods that tame a whole novel, and why stories matter so much to young people.
You'll learn
What sparks the magic system of a supernatural thriller. What it means to find your writing home, and how to know when you've arrived. Why readers decide within the first ten pages, and how visceral detail keeps them hooked. A pantser's case for careful plotting when you're juggling multiple points...#197: Chris Pavone — Writing the Modern Thriller, Sustaining Tension Over Action, and Defining Success on Your Own Terms
Edgar Award–winning novelist Chris Pavone on creating tension that never lets up, editing a book to make it bigger rather than just better, and turning a single apartment building into a portrait of a whole city.
We discuss
Why every book has to be one clear thing before it can be anything else. How two decades of editing other people’s books prepares you to write your own. The offhand note from a legendary editor that quietly transformed a debut, and why the vaguest feedback can be the most useful. What it means to edit a bo...#196: Missouri Williams — Writing Strange and Ambitious Fiction, Doubt as a Generative Force, and Why Idleness Is Essential to Creativity
Award-winning novelist Missouri Williams on writing strange and ambitious fiction, treating doubt as a generative force, and why idleness is essential to creative work.
We discuss
How a destabilising illness and a new language can reshape a writer’s whole relationship to words. Why style isn’t something you construct so much as a way of seeing you’re partly stuck with. The case for drafting without thinking about the end result and keeping the stakes low. What an image you can’t stop returning to can reveal about the book you need to write. When idleness...#195: Holly Ringland — The Pain of Not Writing, Breaking Through Decades of Self-Doubt, Meeting the Inner Critic with the Inner Fan, and Building a Toolkit for the Creative Life
Bestselling novelist Holly Ringland on writing from joy instead of fear, the toolkit she built to meet the inner critic with self-compassion, and finding the first true sentence of her debut after decades of silence.
We discuss
Why the pain of not writing eventually outweighs the pain of writing. What grief and loss can crack open in a writer that nothing else can. How the first true line of a novel can arrive once you stop listening to the reasons you can't write it. A bullet-point approach to plotting that protects the nervous system from t...#194: Finding Peak Writing Flow & Focus — Dr Gloria Mark, Oliver Burkeman & Charlie Hoehn on Designing Your Day Around Peak Attention, Embracing Imperfection, and the Power of Play (Compilation)
Attention researcher Dr Gloria Mark (Attention Span), bestselling author Oliver Burkeman (Meditations for Mortals) and book strategist Charlie Hoehn (Play It Away) on designing your day around peak focus, embracing imperfection in creative work and bringing play back to the page.
You'll learn
#193: Rebecca Fallon — Juggling Motherhood and Creative Ambition, Crafting Dual Timelines, Inhabiting Multiple Points of View
Debut novelist Rebecca Fallon on ambition, motherhood, crafting dual timelines, and writing a novel built around the person who isn't there.
We discuss
Why quitting a stable job to write a novel can be framed as a calculated bet rather than a leap of faith. How to prototype the writer's life before fully committing to it. What genre fiction can teach a literary novelist about plotting and structure. How a single late-stage scene revealed who the actual protagonist of the book had been all along. The unsexy spreadsheet work behind a novel that moves between timelines. ...#192: Steven Pressfield — The War of Art, Battling Resistance, Hearing the Call of the Muse, Writing Memoir (From The Vault)
Bestselling author Steven Pressfield on what it means to have a creative calling, battling resistance, the role of faith in writing, and his memoir Govt Cheese. A remastered version of episode #058.
You'll learn:
Why a typewriter sat untouched in the back of a van for seven years before becoming a career. How self-sabotage shows up at the finish line, not just at the start. A rule of thumb for telling resistance apart from legitimate doubt. Why the more important a project is, the more terrifying it should feel. When you can finally write about pain, and...#191: Debra Curtis — Becoming a Novelist After Sixty, Surviving Hundreds of Rejections, Radical Forgiveness, and Not Giving Up as a Writer
Debut novelist Debra Curtis on teaching herself to write by copying poems by hand as a dyslexic child, using contemporary novels as craft manuals to learn structure, meeting the Dalai Lama, the importance of radical forgiveness & publishing her first novel in her sixties after years of rejection.
You'll learn:
Why copying poems by hand into a composition notebook secretly teaches a dyslexic child to write. The hospital-bed moment with her dying father that became a three-decade family motto. A vision at a marina, a prescription bottle, and the woman who became her protagonist. What hundreds of r...#190: Writing Hits for the Screen — Hannah Bos (Somebody Somewhere), Kim Krizan (Before Sunrise), Selina Lim (Sex Education) on Writing Partnerships, Character-First Screenwriting, Life in the Writers’ Room (Compilation)
Screenwriters Hannah Bos (HBO’s Somebody Somewhere), Kim Krizan (Before Sunrise, Before Sunset) and Selina Lim (Sex Education, Hanna) on building writing partnerships, developing characters from the inside out, and finding your way into a writers’ room.
You'll learn
Why a writing partnership only works when you can separate your ego from your ideas. How seven years of making weird theatre in Brooklyn quietly set the stage for an HBO show. What it takes to write a quiet, character-driven show in a TV landscape built for plot. How a master’s thesis on a diarist turned...#189: Juliet Mushens — Building Bestselling Writer Careers, Decoding Agent Feedback, and Why Writing for the Market Rarely Works
Literary agent Juliet Mushens on what makes her offer representation, how she builds bestselling careers from debut to long-term success, and why writers need a life outside of publishing.
We discuss
Why tension is the single most important quality an agent looks for in any genre of fiction. How personalized feedback from an agent signals you’re closer than you think. The editorial conversation that happens when an agent offers representation. What to consider when choosing between multiple agent offers, and why gut matters more than questionnaires. How some of today’s biggest bestsellers had their firs...#188: Josh Ritter — Songwriting as Exploration, Working Across Art Forms, Inviting the Muse In, and Sharing Work in Public
Singer-songwriter and author Josh Ritter on writing songs for the muse instead of waiting for it, letting creative ideas find their shape across songwriting, painting, and fiction, and building a sustainable creative life over more than two decades.
We discuss:
Writing for the muse instead of waiting for it. Why working across multiple art forms keeps each one alive. The craft behind a single narrative song, from first image to finished track. Balancing creative compulsion with everyday life. What sharing work publicly teaches you about your own work. How the relationship between an artist and their...#187: Lidia Yuknavitch — The Art of Memoir & Writing from the Body, Plus Breaking Narrative Form and Finding Core Metaphors
Novelist, memoirist, and Corporeal Writing founder Lidia Yuknavitch on writing from the body, finding form in the natural world, and why the stories we need most come from the places we’ve been afraid to go.
We discuss:
Why the element that makes you vibrate — water, forest, rock, wind — might be the key to unlocking your creative access path. How to find your core metaphors through a body-based meditation practice. A practical portal for memoir writers. Why abandoning linear plot doesn’t mean abandoning form. The difference between prompts and portals. Why writers who’ve survived the hardes...#186: Jennifer Breheny Wallace — The Science of Mattering, Outrunning Your Inner Critic, Building a Writing Life Around Deep Work
Award-winning journalist and bestselling author Jennifer Breheny Wallace on mattering, resilience through relationships, and the writing practices behind two New York Times bestselling nonfiction books.
You’ll learn
Why resilience as a writer has far less to do with self-care routines and far more to do with the people you surround yourself with. How to tell whether your idea is a series of articles or a book, and what structural test separates one from the other. A practical way to ask for feedback on your writing that actually leads to useful criticism instead of vague encouragement. Wh...#185: David Eagleman — The Neuroscience of Creativity, Navigating Genres, Protecting Your Brain in the Age of AI, plus The Lazy Susan Method
Description:
Neuroscientist and bestselling author David Eagleman on the brain science behind creativity, what actually causes writer's block, and how pre-commitment strategies like the Ulysses contract can help writers finish what they start.
You'll learn:
Why creativity isn't a rare gift, and what's actually happening in every brain when it absorbs and remixes the world around it. The three core algorithms behind creative thinking, and how to use them deliberately when you're stuck on a project. What's really going on in the brain when a writer feels blocked, and why the fix might b...#184: How to Write Short Stories with Sarah Hall, Jonathan Escoffery & Niamh Mulvey — Building Worlds in Small Spaces, Research That Sparks Story, Writing Endings That Feel Inevitable (Compilation)
Acclaimed short fiction writers Sarah Hall, Jonathan Escoffery, and Niamh Mulvey on building immersive worlds in compressed spaces, grounding stories in real human stakes, and writing openings and endings that transform both character and reader.
Timestamps:
(00:01:06) Sarah Hall, from Episode 161
(00:14:43) Jonathan Escoffery, from Episode 56
(00:26:40) Niamh Mulvey, previously unreleased conversation
You'll learn:
Sarah Hall's "keyhole" approach to short stories — and how the unseen world beyond the scene gives a story its depth. Why trusting your preoccupations beats forcing a theme, and how over-awareness of your own subject can...#183: Curtis Chin — Landing National Press, Running 300+ Book Events, Booking Venues With Cold Emails, Making Book Tours Pay, Building Book Buzz Without a Marketing Team
Memoirist and filmmaker Curtis Chin on pitching for national press, booking venues through cold emails, and making a high-volume book events strategy financially sustainable.
You’ll learn:
Why Curtis booked readings before his memoir released to drive pre-orders, and what that early push unlocked. How he found venues by researching programs and series online, then sending cold outreach without overcomplicating it. A practical way to define your “audience” so your outreach targets the right communities and institutions. How to write a venue email that creates urgency (a “hook” and a reason to say yes now), without sounding gimmick...#182: Morgan Cooper — Creative Audacity & Creating Your Own Opportunities, Making Bel-Air, Turning a Viral Short Film Into a Series, Producing with Will Smith & Writing Picture Books
Writer and director Morgan Cooper on turning a self-funded Bel-Air short into a series, building creative audacity before opportunity arrives, and staying resourceful across drafts, collaboration, and a children’s picture book.
You'll learn:
Why “imperfect action” can be a practical antidote to creative paralysis, especially early in your craft.How he found a compelling dramatic lens by stripping away sitcom expectations and focusing on character archetypes and real-world stakes.What it can look like to invest commercial income back into self-initiated work to build a body of proof.Why “waiting for permission” often hides fear, and how st...#181: Erica Stern — Writing Hybrid Nonfiction, Genre-Bending Memoir, Blending Research and Story, Finding A Publisher
Essayist and fiction writer Erica Stern on writing hybrid nonfiction, weaving memoir with research and a ghost-story thread, and finding a publishing home for genre-defying work.
You'll learn:
#180: How to Write Historical Fiction with Maggie O'Farrell, Ruta Sepetys & Stacey Halls — Research that Sparks Story, Non-Linear Structure & Authentic Dialogue (Compilation)
Novelists Maggie O’Farrell, Stacey Halls, and Ruta Sepetys on turning research into living scenes, building non-linear structure that still feels clear, and writing voice and dialogue that make the past feel immediate.
Timestamps:
00:01:30 Maggie O’Farrell
00:26:14 Stacey Halls
00:49:33 Ruta Sepetys
You’ll learn:
#179: Moira Buffini — From Playwright to Novelist, Writing Dystopian YA, plus Creative Resilience and Sustaining a Long Creative Career
Playwright and BAFTA-nominated screenwriter Moira Buffini on moving between theatre, film, and fiction, writing for yourself instead of the market, and shaping structure by rewriting toward the ending you want readers to feel.
You’ll learn:
Why “you are the audience” can be a practical rule for cutting through market noise and writing with conviction. A useful way to handle reviews and outside opinions without letting them steer the work. How to build story momentum when you can’t fully plot ahead, and why not knowing the next move can be a strength. A structure approach based...Bonus: Dreaming Big in 2026 – Prompts for a Creative Year with Matt & Lindsey
London Writers’ Salon co-founder Matt Trinetti and Head of Writer Experience Lindsey Trout Hughes share prompts from our Dreaming Big in 2026: Creative Goal Setting for Writers workshop – designed to help writers get clear on what they actually want from their writing life in 2026, and translate that desire into a plan that can survive reality in the first 1-3 months of the year.
Through 8 steps – from identifying desire to committing to a 48-hour move – Matt and Lindsey step through over a dozen prompts, discuss why each is important for writers to think about, and share what’s coming up for them p...
#178: Haleh Liza Gafori — Rumi’s Wisdom for Modern Life, The Craft of Translation, Poetry as Liberation
Translator, performance artist, writer, and educator Haleh Liza Gafori on translating Rumi with fidelity and music, and what his poetry can teach us about liberation, attention, and love.
You’ll learn:
Habits Haleh uses to re-centre and get quiet enough to work.How she learned to trust sound and rhythm first, and let meaning arrive through the ear.The moment she realised she needed to make her own translations, and what triggered that decision.A simple test for “is this translation working?”, including why one wrong image can flip the whole poem.Principles Haleh uses to keep t...#177: Mason Currey — Daily Rituals: Building a Creative Life With Routine, Discipline, and Procrastination
Writer and editor Mason Currey on what artists’ routines can teach us about focus, discipline, procrastination, and building a sustainable creative life.
You'll learn:
What led Mason to writing, and the early pressures that shaped his relationship with the work.Why he started Daily Routines as a side project, and what he was trying to solve with it.The moment the blog went viral, and what changed when an audience arrived.What it took to turn a quote-collecting blog into a book, including the research and structure behind it.Why routines work best when they’re pers...#176: Allison King — Breaking into Publishing as Debut Novelist, Writing Historical Fiction With Magical Realism, Plus Tools For Structure
Debut novelist and 2023 Reese’s Book Club LitUp fellow Allison King on blending history with magical realism, and what it takes to build a writing life while navigating the modern publishing landscape.
We discuss:
#175: Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross — Your Brain on Art: Neuroaesthetics, Wellbeing, and Creative Practice, plus Finding Your Voice, Tapping Into Intuition
Neuroaesthetics researcher Susan Magsamen and Google design leader Ivy Ross on creativity as a biological necessity, intuition, and the aesthetic mindset for a good life.
You'll learn:
#174: 3 Poets Read Their Work and Talk Craft Choices — Mary Jean Chan, David Whyte and Anthony Anaxagorou (Compilation)
Poets Mary Jean Chan, David Whyte, and Anthony Anaxagorou read their work and unpack emotional truth, craft choices, and poems built from lived detail.
You'll learn:
How early “bad” poems can still be soothing and give you a way through angst. Why simplicity of voice can beat complexity when a poem needs clarity. How form and layout can carry a poem’s physicality, including a modern sonnet’s constraints. How to face writer’s block by writing directly about the ways you can’t write. Why repetition works in live readings, helping the audience “hear” what just landed. How to mi...#173: Maggie Andersen — Memoir, Theatre and the Courage To Write
What does it mean to turn a life of art, love, and loss into story? How do we write honestly about the people who shaped us? And what can theater teach us about the art of memoir?
In her debut memoir No Stars in Jefferson Park (Northwestern University Press), writer and professor Maggie Andersen tells a Chicago coming-of-age story that alternates between the exhilaration of founding a theater company and the devastating realities of loss, resilience, and rebuilding.
In this conversation with Maggie Andersen, we discuss the craft of storytelling at the intersection of theater...
#172: The Diary of a CEO’s Director of Trailers, Anthony Smith — Storytelling Through Video and Writing: Audience Psychology, Intrigue, and Retention
The Diary of a CEO’s Director of Trailers, Anthony Smith, on capturing attention in the first few seconds, building cliffhangers and emotional momentum that keep audiences watching (or reading), and testing hooks and packaging without losing trust or story.
You'll learn:
Why you only have 3–5 seconds to earn attention, and what that changes about your opening lines and first scenes.How to take the guesswork out of hooks by testing titles and thumbnails to see what audiences actually care about.Ways to pull a more compelling later moment forward and work in reverse when the earl...#171: Salena Godden — Spoken Word, Poetry, Memoir, and Novels: Turning Pain into Courage on the Page and Getting Published
Poet, novelist, and broadcaster Salena Godden on turning love, grief, and fury into books and poems, surviving years in the wilderness before publication, and sustaining a boundaryless creative life through performance, early-morning writing, and community.
You'll learn:
#170: Mary Jean Chan — Emotional Truth in Contemporary Poetry: Imagery, Juxtaposition, and Finding the Right Form
Award-winning poet Mary Jean Chan on emotional truth in contemporary poetry, the imagery and juxtaposition that hold big feelings on the page, writing queerness, family and grief with care, and what submissions and prize judging reveal about poems that endure.
You'll learn:
#169: Adele Parks — Writing 25 Bestsellers in 25 Years: Discipline, Voice, and Long-Term Success in Commercial Fiction
Bestselling novelist Adele Parks on her writing life, routines and techniques, character work, and creative strategies that have kept her stories fresh and her readership devoted for over two decades.
You'll learn:
#168: Anne Ditmeyer and Martin Lake – Self-Publish Successfully: Choosing Platforms, Managing Costs & Earning Six Figures
Self-published authors Anne Ditmeyer and Martin Lake share what it really takes to go indie, from choosing platforms and budgeting for editing, design, and ISBNs to redefining success, avoiding scams, and playing the long game of finding readers and building a sustainable writing life.
You'll learn:
#167: Anna Davis, founder of Curtis Brown Creative — Learning How to Write: Messy Drafts, the Rewrite Doctor, and What Agents Want
Anna Davis, novelist, agent, and founder of Curtis Brown Creative, shares how to turn a messy first draft into a strong, market-ready novel through diagnostic editing, practical rewriting tools, and a clear understanding of what agents actually look for.
You'll learn:
#166: Kate McKean — Author and Literary Agent on Building a Writing Life: Pitches, Rejections, and Publishing Truths
Literary agent and author Kate McKean shares how to pitch like a human, read rejection letters usefully, and protect your joy so you can build a durable writing life.
You'll learn:
#165: Carys Shannon — Debut Novelist on Choosing an Indie Press, Finding Your Voice, Writers’ Hour, and Holding Your Vision
Debut novelist Carys Shannon on how to stay true to your voice through submissions and agent feedback, why an editorially led indie press was the right home for her book, and the craft that brought it to life.
We discuss:
#164: Liv Maidment — A Literary Agent’s Playbook for Writers: Query Smart, Pick Comps, Nail the Pitch & Synopsis, and Today’s Market
Head of Books at the Madeleine Milburn Agency, Liv Maidment, shares how literary agents read, evaluate, and champion submissions (from pitches and comps to strategy, timelines, and today’s AI-driven market), helping writers pitch their work clearly and confidently.
You'll learn:
#163: Indyana Schneider — Lessons from an Opera Singer Who Wrote Her Novel on the Tube; Rhythm, Desire & Tension for Fiction Writers
Indyana Schneider—international opera singer and novelist—shares practical ways to write rhythm and desire on the page, craft scene-level tension, and shape compressed-time narratives; plus lessons from drafting her debut on the Tube.
You'll learn:
How to build sentence-level cadence: vary lengths and read aloud to tune flow.A simple spine for short-timeframe novels: day-by-day beats, rising stakes, a final choice.Where to start and stop scenes so pages move (start late, leave early).Writing desire without cliché: stay in character voice; revise for rhythm and clarity.Turning musical training into prose: sensory sequencing that gu...#162: Natalie Lue — Publishing Mini-Memoirs, Writing Difficult Truths, Choosing Indie Publishing
Natalie Lue, bestselling author and writer (Baggage Reclaim) shares how she shaped her mini-memoirs Let Go (Family & Friction) with The Pound Project, why intention is your best editor, and the inner tools that helped her write through grief, illness, and complicated family ties — without turning her life into content.
You’ll learn
How to decide if you’re writing from the scar or the wound.Practical ways to protect yourself on the page: boundaries, pauses, and purpose.A simple test for what stays in your memoir and what gets cut.Why journaling and “scrap-paper noodling” reveal patterns y...#161: Sarah Hall — Writing Award-Winning Short Stories & Literary Fiction, Evocative Landscape & Creative Freedom; Booker-Nominated Writer
Sarah Hall—twice Booker Prize–nominated author and the only writer to win the BBC National Short Story Award twice—on crafting fiction that is both lush and uncompromising, and how to captivate readers on the sentence level while staying true to creative freedom.
We discuss:
Her early reading life in the countryside and the characters who first sparked her imaginationLessons learned from an “unpublishable” first novel and how Haweswater found its true formThe discipline and intuition behind her writing process and when to share draftsWhy handwriting first drafts rekindled a sense of play and sharpened her editin...